We have chatted about genres and age categorizations a couple of times on The Creator’s Roulette and today we will be exploring New Adult fiction with Holly Ash. Holly is the author of the underwater science fiction series The Journey Missions. She has worked for the last ten years as an Environmental Engineer after receiving degrees in Environmental Science and English Literature from Central Michigan University. Let’s learn from her!
Holly, welcome to The Creator’s Roulette! Before we go into New Adult, I have to say I love books that are grounded in research. How much of your studies do you bring to The Journey Mission series?
Thanks for having me. While my books tend to be on the softer side of sci-fi I try to incorporate as much of my studies and experience into them as I can. I used a lot of my environmental background to help shape the planet of Neophia to reflect what Earth would look like if humans had taken better care of the environment. This is in contrast to Earth in my stories where there were basically no environmental regulations and all nature has been eliminated.
You’ll also find a lot of references to manufacturing and construction in my books, especially Crystal and Flint, that is heavily influenced by my 13 years working in manufacturing environments.
The Journey Missions series is New Adult. This is supposedly between the Young Adult and Adult categories. How do they differ?
On the surface most people are going to say the biggest difference is in the ages of the main characters. In Young Adult they are in their teens and in New Adult they are in their early twenties. If you dig deeper I think the big difference between the two is where they are in their life and the choices they make. In New Adult the characters are typically more mature, they already have a good handle on who they are, instead they are searching for their place in the world. They might start the story thinking they know exactly what they want out of life, only to find out that they don’t fit there. These characters also tend to be more aware of the choices they are making rather than the reluctant heroes you tend to find in Young Adult.
For example, in the first book in my series Crystal and Flint, Crystal is well into her military career. She is certain she knows exactly what she wants out of life. She has dedicated herself to the military and that is the only thing that matters to her. When Justin shows up and she starts to develop romantic feelings for him she has to decide if the military life she had chosen is really the life she wants or if she’s willing to sacrifice that for a chance at love.
Then you have Desi who is leaving Earth to go serve on Neophia and everything she believes to be true about herself and what it means to be a soldier is called into question and she has to decide if this is really what she wants.
How important are these age categorizations in your mind as an author? What about from a publisher and reader perspective?
I didn’t really set out to write New Adult. I love the YA dystopian stories like Hunger Games and Divergent, and I wanted to write a story for people who enjoyed these types of books but wanted characters that were more mature and more deliberate in their choices. It was only after I started that I realized that I was writing NA. So from an author perspective I think it’s good to have an idea of the audience in mind, but I don’t think it’s essential to say this is going to be a New Adult book and it must have these things in it.
I think authors need to set out to write the story they want and then later they can worry about classifying it.
On the other hand, I think the age categories are important for the reader and publisher to understand. It helps them to know what they are getting themselves into and what in general to expect.
You mentioned that agents in publishing don’t typically represent New Adult. Why do you think that is? What are some misconceptions around New Adult that makes it a less marketable category?
I can’t speak for agents and publishers, but I have read a lot of articles that say if you write New Adult, just call it adult. I think it’s such a new age category that most readers don’t really understand what New Adult is. When I’ve done book fairs and in person events I get a lot people that look at my books and say “Oh that’s for teens, I only read adult books,” and then the next person say “My teens love to read, but they like characters that are closer to their age not adults.” So it’s this confusion over the age category that makes it harder to market to the general public. The only way to get around this is for there to be more New Adult stories so people become familiar with it and learn the expectations of the New Adult.
Is there a theme that one would only find in New Adult stories and not in Adult stories?
The overarching theme for me that makes a book NA rather than Adult is the characters questioning their place and purpose in the world. I’m sure you can find this in Adult novels as well, but it’s usually at a lesser extent. A person’s twenties are really when they discover where they belong and what they want to devote their life to and that is what is reflected in New Adult stories.
This idea of being completely on your own for the first time and getting to decide for yourself what you want out of life is something that I think it really unique to this period of life and to this age category.
Do you have some recommendations for readers who want to read more New Adult books?
I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t know many New Adult books. I’m sure I’ve read plenty that have just been put in the Adult bucket and never really stopped to think if they should belong in New Adult instead. The one series I highly recommend though is The Starchaser Saga by Renee Dugan. It’s an New Adult epic fantasy series that is simply incredible.
Do you read New Adult fiction intentionally? What are some New Adult books you have come across?
I hope you found this conversation with Holly helpful and it made you think about New Adult fiction. You can connect with Holly on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Find more about her work on her website.
Cover: Photo by Deanna Lewis on Unsplash
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